29 Wins: We Ain’t No Mickey Mouse Team

Throughout the months of January and February, GeorgiaStateSports.com will run feature stories on the members of the 1991 and 2001 men's basketball teams, as well as 2001 women's basketball team as we celebrate the 30-year and 20-year anniversaries of those teams reaching the NCAA Tournament.

Parts of this story ran during the 20-year anniversary of the men's basketball team reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history following arguably the best season in program history. Thank you to former Assistant A.D. Charlie Taylor to his contributions on this piece.

Head coach Charles "Lefty" Driesell saw enough of his 2000-01 team in practice to take the time to tell the Atlanta Journal Constitution to come cover all the games because "this ain't no Mickey Mouse team, we're good." We'll get back to Mickey Mouse later in the story.

Five talented lettermen, led by all-conference guards Shernard Long and Kevin Morris returned. Veterans Donnie Davis, D.J. Wootson, and Lydell Gunsby provided starting experience in reserve. Two transfer redshirts from LSU and Alabama, Darryl Cooper and Cedric Patton, became eligible after a year's practice. A talented junior college recruiting class included big men Thomas Terrell, "Bam" Campbell, James Gilchrist and Keith Branch. Lone freshman Lamont McIntosh arrived from Redan High to give GSU a strong roster of a Dandy Dozen players. 20 years later, McIntosh is still around Georgia State, now calling games on ESPN+ and radio for his beloved Panthers. The bench on this team probably could have beaten many other teams.

You didn't have to convince "Lefty's Loonies" student support group because they, too, were ready to lend their voices and antics for victory.

The season played itself out to be the most memorable in school history because:
• The team won the first NCAA Tournament game in school history
• The team won the TAAC tournament and earned the second-ever NCAA bid in school history
• The team set the school record for most wins in a season (29)
• The team received votes in the national polls (31 votes in AP poll)
• The team won the Nike Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii
• The team scored the most points in school history (2,701, 79.4 per game)
• The team's 29 wins were 3rd most in the NCAA that season
• The team was perfect at home, 16-0, and set a school record with 13 wins away from home
• The team played four teams that made the NCAA Tournament and beat three of them
• The team played two teams that made the National Invitation Tournament and split
• The team was 16-2 in the conference as regular season champions
• The team was Dick Vitale's 'National Team of the Week' after the 2-0 start

In the non-conference portion of the schedule to start the season, GSU played such a tough schedule that the Panthers were No. 15 in CollegeRPI.com and No. 23 in the Sagarin RPI.

The 'ol lefthander gained national attention with his 750th all-time win, only the 11th to ever do so at the time.

Stories within the story need to be re-told, so we'll re-live some of those moments to remember.

The Season Opener: Nov. 17 – First up was a trip to Athens to face a respected University of Georgia team. The highly-favored Bulldogs would go on to earn an NCAA bid as a No. 8 overall seed. But, host UGA was no match for the upstart Panthers from Atlanta in front of 6,500 in Stegeman Coliseum. GSU led at the half, 40-32, and had the lead up to 17 points twice (49-32, 69-52) before coasting home with a 91-79 win. Veteran Shernard Long poured in 30 points and newcomer Thomas Terrell made his first-game in Panther blue memorable with 28 points and 11 assists. It was the first of many wins 18-year 'Voice of the Panthers' Dave Cohen would call that season (20 years later, he is still going strong).

Seven In a Row: The Panthers roared out of the gates with seven straight wins, pounding Savannah State by 43 points, then the second-largest winning margin in school history. Game four was a home win over Bradley, an NCAA Tournament-bound team from the MVC, by 13 points.

Speed Bump: GSU's first loss came at top 20-ranked Creighton in Nebraska on Dec. 9 in an 81-74 shoot-out. The Blue Jays with Kyle Korver, now the NBA's fourth-leading 3-point maker, drained 12 treys, while GSU hit nine 3-pointers.

Aloha and Midnight Madness: In the Nike Festival in Hawaii with a field of three of four teams later bound for the NCAA tournament, the Panthers tipped off nightly on the radio at midnight in Atlanta. Day one's rally saw GSU come from 11 points down to surprise NCAA-bound Hawaii, 65-64, with Bam Campbell's tip in with four seconds left winning it. On day two, GSU stopped 17-win UAB, 74-63. Then, in the championship game against NCAA-bound Cal State-Northridge, GSU raced to a 97-88 triumph. The Panthers shot a remarkable 30-of-34 from the free throw line in the title win as Shernard Long was named Nike Festival MVP for the now 10-1 Panthers.

Back to the TAAC in January: Long stayed hot with a 33-point night on 12-of-16 field goals for a 10-point win at Campbell, but a cold night of shooting at Stetson (39%) sent GSU to its first league defeat, 71-66.

The Game That Took Two Days: On Jan. 8 at Jacksonville, GSU started a game at 7:30 p.m., but didn't finish it until after midnight, more than four and a half hours later and into a new day. The problem was when the Panthers strong man Lydell Gunsby dunked home a rebound and shattered the glass backboard. It took JU more than two and a half hours to construct the replacement basket while everyone tried to find ways to kill time. Fortunately for GSU, Thomas Terrell posted the second-highest scoring game in school history with 42 points to lead the team to a 93-82 win. Terrell was 15-of-22 and 9-of-12 outside the three-point line to tie the school three-point record.
20 years later the Panthers played another two-day game. Fast forward back to the start of this season and a 9 p.m. tip at Georgia Tech. Some time after midnight, the Panthers topped the Yellow Jackets 123-120 in four overtimes to earn a win on Thanksgiving Day (morning).

Next Game, Next Record: Three days after Terrell's record, guard Darryl Cooper set a new school record by going 12-for-12 from the free throw line in a 22-point game and win over FAU, 96-77. That school record stood until R.J. Hunter came along.

Match Point: GSU went from 93 points to 96 points to 97 points in consecutive games. This time, Long and Terrell matched one another's shooting with 27-point efforts in a 22-point win over UCF.

750 And Counting: On Jan. 27, in the Sports Arena, GSU and America saluted "Lefty" Driesell on his 750th career win, joining only 10 others who had ever done that. The 86-77 win over Mercer improved GSU to 17-3 and tied the school record for most wins in a season. The Panthers were nowhere close to one just yet.

Baker's Dozen Treys: GSU set a then school-record with 13 three-point baskets in a then school record 18th win, 79-75 over Troy on Jan. 29. Kevin Morris had six treys and Darryl Cooper had five in this win.

"The Pit" – In the midst of conference play, GSU made a quick cross-country jaunt to play at New Mexico in their famous arena, "The Pit," in front of 16,215. GSU led at the half, 48-43, but the Lobos surged in the second half to drop the Panthers to 21-4, 91-78.

Mickey Mouse Calls – GSU's final road trip was to Florida and that trip would include a cameo visit to Mickey's play land at Disney World. After GSU beat UCF in Orlando, 90-85, behind Terrell's 30 points on Feb. 22 for win No. 24, the Atlanta Journal Constitution had asked for a photo shoot of the team at Disney World. They put the team in Mickey Mouse ears to use for a full-page cover of its NCAA Tournament special section to use with "Lefty's" original statement about being a Mickey Mouse team. The team went to Disney World for a photo in front of the castle and headed on south for a regular season finale win over Florida Atlantic.

As Easy As 1, 2, 3 – The conference tournament was at the GSU Sports Arena and the host Panthers were ready, willing, and able to earn the title. On day one on March 1, GSU stomped FAU, 96-57, for a 39-point win. The GSU bench played 111 of the 200 team minutes that day to keep the legs fresh. Remember, we told you earlier the bench was pretty good.

On day two, Samford slowed it down, but GSU stayed in control for a 66-56 win, despite Samford shooting 59% to keep it close.
Championship Saturday on ESPN-TV with Dan Schulman and Brad Daugherty, before 4,028 fans in the noisy Sports Arena, was all GSU as the Panthers shot lights out with a new school-record 16 three-point baskets in destroying Troy, 79-55. The defense allowed 57, 56 and 55 points in the three days.

Selection Sunday – GSU was picked to be one of the TV teams and the team and friends gathered at the ESPN Zone awaiting the match-ups. The Panthers were announced as a No. 11 seed to go to Boise, Idaho and face No. 25 ranked and No. 6-seed Wisconsin from the Big Ten.

Loonies Load The Van – With 790 The Zone Radio reporting live and local TV's shooting, Lefty's Loonies loaded up the van and began a 37-hour, 2000-plus mile journey on four wheels to Boise. The group did live radio updates daily. In Boise, their costumes, cheers, and spirit got them on the front page of the local newspaper.

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall – Georgia State drew Wisconsin, ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 19 and 22 in RPI ratings, in the opener in Boise on CBS-TV with Craig Bolerjack and James Worthy. The Panthers struggled early, making mistakes and missing shots. Wisconsin was holding a 16-point lead, 30-14, with two minutes left in the first half. Bam Campbell made two free throws and then Kevin Morris nailed a three-point shot at the halftime buzzer to close margin to 30-19.

The second half saw the feisty Panthers play better. Down 39-32 at 12:38, a trey by Cooper, a driving basket by Cooper, a basket by Morris and then an old-fashioned three-point play by Long tied the game at 42-42 with 7:11 left, and the Loonies had the Boise crowd helping them cheer the Panthers' upset bid.
Wisconsin went to 6-foot-9 Mark Vershaw down the stretch because GSU's Darryl Cooper had All Big-Ten guard Kirk Penney shut down. Vershaw made a free throw and then had a dunk to put UW up 45-42. Long answered with a jumper. Vershaw answered with two more free throws. 47-44 with 1:30 on the clock. Andy Kowske hit two free throws and Wisconsin was up 49-44 with 1:00 on the clock.

With 48 seconds left, Cooper made one of the biggest plays in GSU history by making a three-point shot and being fouled, converting it into a four-point play to cut the deficit to 49-48. It was the first "The Shot" in program history, and 14 years later another one by that guy Hunter would come along (but that's for a future story). Cooper wasn't done as he then stepped up and made a defensive steal to get GSU the ball back.

Senior Shernard Long calmly sank a jumper, and GSU had the lead at 50-49, but with 12 seconds left.

Wisconsin went to Vershaw again since he had 19 points and had made 7-of-9 free throws. When Vershaw made his move to the basket, 6-5 Campbell had to foul him to stop the basket. Vershaw stepped to the line with three seconds and the pressure of the game on his shoulders. Clank, right rim. Chance for a tie. Clank, back rim. Rebound, Shernard Long. Ballgame. Georgia State.

GSU showed its grit with its three-guard offense by gaining a 33-32 a rebound advantage over the bigger Badgers, including a 20-14 second half margin. Campbell had 11 rebounds and Terrell nine. Lydell Gunsby got an elbow to the eye the swelled that eye shut and he couldn't return after only two minutes.

Fear The Turtle – The Panthers then had to face No. 3-seed and top 20-ranked Maryland (No. 11 AP) on Saturday TV for the chance to advance to the Sweet 16.
The first half was a fun scoring duel for the fans. GSU had several early leads and traded baskets with the talented Terps of the ACC but was down 41-37. Hustling GSU had a 28-20 rebound advantage, even though Campbell had three fouls and played eight minutes, while Gunsby played on while seeing mainly out of one eye after his previous injury.

The second half saw GSU re-take the lead at 43-42 with 17:51 left after a pair of Donnie Davis free throws. Another Davis free throw at 14:31 tied the game at 47. Campbell had his fourth foul in the first 20 seconds of the half, so Davis was stepping up.

Trailing 53-49 with 12 minutes left, GSU got careless with turnovers and was called for more fouls. Maryland went on a 10-0 run to make it 63-49, spurred by 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and GSU's top rebounder, Campbell, was gone with five fouls with 10:10 left after just nine minutes of total playing time.

The Panthers were down 71-60 with four minutes left and looking for a rally but couldn't find the shooting magic. GSU never scored again as Maryland pulled away for the largest margin of the game, 79-60 at the end. The Terps would move on to the Final Four and 25 wins.

GSU finished 2000-01 with 29 wins, the third most in the nation that year. They finished with 43 votes in the final two national polls, seventh among the teams receiving votes and not in the top 25. Coach Driesell sat at 762 career wins, fifth most in NCAA history at the time.

The team was No. 7 in the country in 3-point baskets made and No. 16 in scoring.

Shernard Long was honorable mention All-America and Player of the Year of the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC), while leading the league in scoring. Kevin Morris was the Chevrolet Player of the Game in the NCAA, first-team all-conference and first-team all-tournament. Thomas Terrell was MVP of the TAAC Tournament and second-team all-conference.

The national media coverage was the largest in school history with "Lefty's" national recognition and the team's amazing success.

The Alphabetical Roster of the 2000-01 Championship Team:

Branch, Keith 4 F 6-8 Jr. Houston, Tex. (Paris JC)
Campbell, Bam 1 F 6-5 Jr. Memphis, Tenn. (NE Miss. CC)
Cooper, Darryl 12 F 6-3 Soph. Stone Mountain, Ga. (LSU)
Davis, Donnie 13 F 6-8 Sr. Lawrenceville, Ga. (Collins Hill)
Gilchrist, James 20 F 6-6 Jr. Winter Haven, Fla. (Polk CC)
Gunsby, Lydell 10 C 6-7 Sr. Stone Mountain, Ga. (Atl. Metro CC)
Long, Shernard 00 G 6-4 Sr. Tucker, Ga. (Georgetown)
McIntosh, Lamont 2 G 6-3 Fr. Lithonia, Ga. (Redan)
Morris, Kevin 13 G 6-0 Sr. New York, N.Y. (Ga. Tech)
Patton, Cedric 31 F 6-7 So. Huntsville, Ala. (Alabama)
Terrell, Thomas 5 F/C 6-7 Jr. Brookhaven, Miss (Copiah-Lincoln CC)
Wootson, D.J. 30 G 5-11 Sr. Wilmington, Del. (Cecil CC)

This story was updated by Associate A.D. Mike Holmes. Holmes was a student assistant in the Sports Communications office at the time and in Boise that week with the team. 20 years later, he has been a part of four NCAA Tournament appearances with the Panthers, but none may top that crazy week in Idaho – well, 2015 came pretty close!

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